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10 things you might not know about Toronto but totally should

A city as big as Toronto is bound to have a few secrets and surprise you every now and then.

Which is why in honour of Toronto’s 185th Anniversary, on March 6, we wanted to share some unique Toronto facts that you should probably know if you don’t already.

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1. The PATH is the largest underground pedestrian system in North America

With over 1200 stores and restaurants, 30 plus km of connected walkways, it’s no wonder that 200,000 plus people use Toronto’s underground PATH system daily.

2. Yorkville was originally a cemetery

Before Yorkville became Toronto’s poshest neighbourhood, it was formally Toronto’s first public non-denominational cemetery, known as the Potter’s Field. Reports say that 6,700 people were buried north and west of Yonge and Bloor Sts. until the cemetery closed in 1855. Yorkville was later built on top of it.

3. What Toronto actually means

Originally, the term “Taronto” referred to a channel of water between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching, and it’s an Iroquois word used to describe an area where trees grow in shallow water.

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4. There’s a hidden subway station below the city

When the Toronto subway system was originally being constructed,a corridor was hollowed out underneath Queen station. It was initially meant to house underground streetcars but was abandoned. Today, you’ll discover the shell of a streetcar subway station and is often referred to as Lower Queen or Queen Lower.

5. A former psychiatric hospital was converted into a college campus

Before becoming a place to shape young minds, Humber College Lakeshore was home to a string of insane asylums, psychiatric institutes, and hospitals for the insane. While in operation, the hospitals would use a ‘cottage system’ to help classify the patients and used a series of underground tunnels to connect the various buildings.

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6. The Toronto Islands weren’t originally islands

The main island of the Toronto Islands wasn’t always an island. The area was once attached to the mainland. An aggressive storm in 1858 blew a hole at the base of the then peninsula, separating the end of it and creating an island. More storms and landfill eventually created other islands.

7. The Toronto Islands used to attract major athletes

8. The city’s entire electrical grid used to run above ground

During the great fire of 1904, which ended up destroying over 100 buildings in downtown Toronto, aerial equipment wasn’t able to get past the electrical wires. Within 15 years, all downtown poles were removed and the wires placed underground.

9. The Toronto streetcar system is the largest in the Western world

The Toronto streetcar system is both the largest and busiest system in the Western world in terms of regular riders, length of track and number of cars.